SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Astronomers Discovered Largest Sample of 9 monster Stars
British astronomers have discovered largest sample cluster of nine monster stars named as R136 using NASA/ ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The cluster is the largest group of very massive stars ever identified. The R136 cluster of monster stars have masses over 100 times and are 30 million times brighter than of our Sun in the star cluster located about 170,000 light-years away. It is located in the Tarantula Nebula within the Large Magellanic Cloud – a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way. The young cluster hosts many extremely massive, hot and luminous stars whose energy is mostly radiated in the ultraviolet (UV).
Four Giant Exoplanets Discovered
A group of Scientists led by Matias Jones of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile have discovered four enormous planets with masses from 2.4 to 5.5 times that of Jupiter, orbiting stars much bigger than our Sun. The newly detected worlds have very long orbital periods ranging from nearly two to slightly more than four Earth years. They used the 5 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory and the 2.2 m telescope at La Silla observatory in Chile, and the 3.9 m Anglo- Australian telescope in Australia.
ISRO Successfully Launched IRNSS-1F
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 10 March launched the country’s sixth Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS)-1F, on board the trusted launch vehicle PSLV C-32. The lift off took place from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre(SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikotta, India’s spaceport. Satellite XL version of PSLV was used in PSLV-C32 and it was the twelfth time that the ‘XL’ configuration was flown.
Indian scientists Develop Herbal Medicine For Dengue
Indian scientists for first time have claimed to have developed herbal medicine against mosquito borne dengue fever using traditional Indian medicine system Ayurveda. The herbal dengue medicine was developed using alcoholic extract of Cissampelos pariera Linn (Cipa extract) derived from velvet leaf, a species of flowering plant. The drug has proved to be potent inhibitor to all four types (strains) of dengue virus. The project jointly undertaken by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology. International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.
Ballistic Missile ‘Agni-I’ Successfully Test-Fired
Indigenously developed nuclear capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-I was successfully test-fired off the Odisha coast on 14 March. It was conducted as part of training exercise by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of Indian Army. It weighs around 12 tonnes and is 15-metre-long. It can travel at a speed of 2.5 km/s and can destroy targets ranging between 700 and 1250 kms away.